Just curious why these two bands don't get any recognition on this forum? These two great bands were the forefathers of prog rock, well before King Crimson [always baffles me why some think they were the original prog band] & The Nice came along. In fact Keith Emerson was a member of Spooky Tooth before joining The Nice.

I was a Spooky Tooth fan from way early in their career. The final album with Gary Wright ("The Mirror") was freakin' awesome. I never knew that Keith Emerson ever played for them - surprises me because I thought I knew everything in progressive rock's happenings in the 70s. I just got onto ST's web site's history and here's what it says about Keith's Spooky adventure:

They auditioned Keith Emerson on keyboards and he joined until in Hamburg, Luther put a slimming pill in Keith's bottle of coca-cola. Halfway through the set Emerson could be seen, enthusiastically shaking his hammond organ backwards & forwards, fascinated by the war-like explosion sounds coming out of the amp! thus was born a seed of E.L.P... some months later Emerson left to form The Nice.

Curved Air is a fantastic band, on the poppier side of prog. Ulta-Vivaldi is a great song. In fact, their First three realeases (Air Conditioning, Second, Phantasmagoria) and Live are all fantastic albums with tight composotions. (I haven't heard Air Cut (1973) with E. Jobson yet though).

I must say that while I love the Spooky Two album (particularly the unforgetable Evil Woman) ... I wouldn't personally put them on the main site ... if we ever have a section for non-prog bands with prog leanings ... I think that would be more appropriate ... along with Wishbone Ash, Deep Purple, etc

Evil Woman is really excellent ... I've also seen a lot of reviews mocking the hysterical vocals but I love 'em

"Death to Utopia! Death to faith! Death to love! Death to hope?" thunders the 20th century. "Surrender, you pathetic dreamer.”

I've mentioned "Spooky Two" several times recently - it's a fantastic album, and one that anyone interested in the history of prog or metal should check out.

I believe it was released in the UK in 1968, but only hit the US a year later.

It's fantastic mainly because it pre-empts just about anyone who was anyone in rock in the early 1970s, and shows a clear line from bands like Traffic, the Small Faces, Savoy Brown, Cream et al whilst providing the momentum for bands like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Yes.

Some of the vocals in "Evil Woman" do suck quite badly - but it's still the best track on the album musically - can anyone say "Sweet Leaf" (Master of Reality)?

Spooky Tooth are a great band and like Curved Air,
Wishbone Ash should be included on this site. Given time I am sure they
will be added!!!

Here we go again - one album or the few tracks, out of a large
discography do not constitute completeness as a prog rock band -
which is evident with Spooky Tooth (Ceremony is as close as you get)
and do we need to go over Wishbone Ash's limited creditials in the
genre. Rock bands for sure... And how did Curved Air get tangled up the
other two???

Gary Wright's Dream Weaver is PROG! Maybe not to
some, could be to melodic, accessible and not
singing about fairytales! Ronnie Montrose joins in on
one song. Live he was a one man show on the
keyboards, outstanding!

In the book "Peter Frame:The Complete Rock Family Trees", he says that Keith Emerson was in the band called "Art" (AKA "V.I.P.S.") for a few weeks. The band in 1967 changed their name to "Art" and recorded an album called "Supernatural FairyTales". They also appear in an album called "Hapshash and the Coloured Coat" ("they provided backing tracks"; I don`t know nothing about this album, if it is a soundtrack for a film or what).The line-up of "Art" was:Greg Ridley, Mike Harrison, Mike Kellie and Luther Grosvenor. When Gary Wright joined the band, the name of the band was changed to "Spooky Tooth", in October 1967.

I have listened to their "Spooky Two" and "The Mirror" albums. I like both albums. Peter Frame says that "Spooky Tooth" was released in March 1969, and "The Mirror" in October 1974.Both albums are available on CD.

"The Mirror" is available on CD but without the original cover. It was also released on CD with another title and cover, as "Comic Violence", and it also has the order of the tracks changed.

Edited by Guillermo

Avatar: Photo of Solar Eclipse, Mexico City, July 1991. A great experience to see. Maybe once in a lifetime.

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